Allotment Gardening Advice Help Chat
Poultry and Pets => The Hen House => Topic started by: judith on August 19, 2006, 14:55
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I recently got 4 lovely hybrid pullets who are a delight to own, during the hot spell one of them started laying eggs with discoloured shells and the eggs are rotten why is this? Also one of them lays the occasional egg with a partly soft shell, I have added grit to their diet but they free range in their own garden so should not be short of this. Thanks for your help
Judith :D
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I recently got 4 lovely hybrid pullets who are a delight to own, during the hot spell one of them started laying eggs with discoloured shells and the eggs are rotten why is this? Also one of them lays the occasional egg with a partly soft shell, I have added grit to their diet but they free range in their own garden so should not be short of this. Thanks for your help
Judith :D
I'd guess that the eggs are rotten because she's been hiding them somewhere and you didn't find them for a month or so?
Is the layer of soft shelled eggs a youngster? You could try feeding them layers pellets which are stuffed full of calcium.
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No I collect them daily but thanks for your reply.
Judith
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Yes they are all pullets, this particular one lays some with hard shells and some with soft I give them layers pellets each day and chicken grit. Today 2 of the eggs were rotten and discoloured laid fresh today so I wonder if they have some sort of bacteria present, maybe I should discuss this with my vet.
Judith
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Hi,
I lot of things can cause discoloured shells and eggs. Mostly what the hens eat. Are they in contact with in particular any oak shavings around the site, they are notorious for colouring eggs brown.
As for the soft shells. This happens sometimes with young birds but if it is constant they may not be gettng enough calcium. They won't get calcium from grit. Grit is used by the crop to grind the poultry food into something they can absorb. The grit stays in the crop for several weeks, and as you say, they should get all of this they need around the plot.
I used to use crushed oystershell which is rich in calcium, but again, only about once a month.
Finally it may be that you are overfeeding the grit and messing up their metabolism in some way.
Just my humble observations, hope they help sort out your problem.
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Hi Ian
Thank you for your reply, I occasionally give them crushed oyster shell but since they have a large garden of their own to free range I was advised that they would find their own grit. The problem I have is one of them and I am not sure which one, lays discoloured rotten eggs, the whites are runny and the yolks have a blueish tinge around the outside, these are egges that are laid on the day so have not been hidden for days and gone off. I don't have any oak trees or shavings so I think I can rule that out. I am beginning to wonder if this is a bacterial issue and perhaps I should ask my vet as maybe antibiotics might be needed. I have had chickens before and never come across anything like this it is very wierd and just wondered if anyone else could shed any light on this.
Kind regards
Judith
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OK i know this is late in a reply ,but i am going through old posts and seeing what i can offer in replies
your chickens need oestra . crushed oyster shell AT ALL TIMES .make a special feeder box to hold this , it needs holes in the bottom to allow rainwater to get out and some small bars acrosS to prevent the birds scratting in the tray and chucking it all over , or you can mix an egg cup in the feed everytime you make it , chickens cannot get the calcium from running around the yard , even the grit runs out eventually unless you turn the soil over each year to bring more to the surface , stop the layers and feed corn only for a few days and see if the problem persists then if it does .take the bird to the vet along with an egg and have it checked over . the vet should be able to test the egg for anything untoward . i havent seen this before ( the blue tinges ) and i would suspect the layers pellets firstly as being off regs karl